Federal Trade Commission Ponders Digital Privacy

As we’ve been reporting here on the ReputationDefender Blog, Washington D.C. has been whipped into a fit over privacy on the web. Not only is Congress considering passing legislation to prohibit or curb data mining and behavioral advertising, but groups on both sides of the debate (privacy advocates vs. a coalition of internet companies) have come out with their own campaigns focused on the “truth” about internet marketing. Now, the Federal Trade Commission is wading into the debate with their own opinions on the issue.

In a post for the Wall Street Journal’s Digits blog, Amy Schatz shared some of the insights gleaned from the FTC’s recent day-long workshop on Internet advertising and behavioral targeting.

From the post:

“We do feel that the approaches we’ve tried so far…haven’t worked quite as well as would like,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz at the workshop, which drew three dozen academics, industry officials and privacy advocates to testify on issues such as the benefits and risks of collecting such info and consumer education. “Is there a better way to protect privacy? An easier way?”

FTC officials say they haven’t decided how or when they might propose changing the rules governing online privacy, however, the issue has become one of the agency’s top priorities.

For several months, Leibowitz and his deputies have raised doubts about how well current practices are protecting consumers. They worry that many Americans don’t have a clear idea about how they’re being tracked online.

“We find that the traditional English-language privacy notice is impenetrable to most people,” said Lorrie Faith Cranor, associate professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, during one roundtable discussion. “People read a privacy policy, and they can’t figure it out.”

Obviously, the debate over digital privacy isn’t going away anytime soon. If you feel strongly about these issues, we at ReptuationDefender encourage you to contact companies, non-profit groups, and your elected leaders to demand more rigorous protection of your personal information and more transparent privacy policies.